One, shouldn’t the MSM look closer at the conflicts of interest in their own newsrooms? I’m not talking liberal bias, but issues like David Gregory’s marriage to a senior executive at Fannie and Andrea Mitchell’s marriage to Alan Greenspan. I’m sure there are many other conflicts in D.C., from the lowest level in the newsroom on up. For example, did David Gregory ever ask about the financial health of Fannie Mae during all those White House press corps briefings he attended?
Two, I would love to see the internal billing records …

Creative Loafing Inc., which owns the Chicago Reader and five other alternative weeklies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday in Tampa, Florida, where the company’s headquartered. CEO Ben Eason didn’t want to put a number on Creative Loafing’s total debt, but it grew considerably last year when the company bought the Reader and the Washington City Paper, and today it “owes more than it can pay back.”
In a telephone conversation with executives of his newspapers, Eason sounded relentlessly chipper, and he emphasized that all his company seeks from bankruptcy is …

Speaker Pelosi’s speech before the House today was remarkable, but not in a good way. She was trying to round up votes for a bailout package that shes claims to believe is essential for the stability of the American economy. She can’t, and doesn’t want to, pass the bill without a substantial number of Republican votes. So what does she do? You would think she would say, “let’s pass this emergency measure now, in the best interests of the country, and talk about who is to blame later.” Instead, Pelosi …

Since the subprime crisis first became evident, we have steadfastly believed the US would avoid a recession. And, at least so far, it has. But with today’s vote, two things have happened. First, Congress finally said enough already with the knee-jerk responses to the crisis by Treasury. Second, any immediate relief (if there was really any coming) to credit problems and confidence has been put off. However, these issues will be short-lived; once the nation is able to focus on the long-term again, all will …

WHAT exactly does a “community organizer” do? Barack Obama’s rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question. Here’s a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.
In the name of fairness to minorities, community organizers occupy private offices, chant inside bank lobbies, and confront executives at their homes – and thereby force financial institutions to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages to low-credit customers.
In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the …

John McCain has been throwing “Hail Marys” for weeks. Now it’s time for him to start reciting them.
And throw in a few “Our Fathers” while he’s at it.
Might also toss in Sarah Palin’s voodoo preacher to save him from witchcraft.
As the lyrics to the classic “September Song” say, “the days dwindle down to a precious few” and little may be left for him but the power of prayer.
McCain’s numbers have been on a slow, steady decline for a couple of weeks now and Barack Obama’s continue on the way …

Sightings 9/29/08
Pulpit Freedom from the IRS
— Martin E. Marty
Less noticed than its law-breaking advocates hoped it would be, given the economic turmoil of the week, dozens of churches defied federal regulations and used their pulpits yesterday to challenge IRS regulations, which insist that tax exempt organizations dare not spend a “substantial part of [their] activities in carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation.” When this line was added to the tax code, the intention was not to target religious organizations but to deny tax-exemption to “sham” or “front” …